‘Goonies’ House Closed to Fans After Harassment, Vandalism From Visitors

The real-life Goonies house in Astoria, Oregon has becoming something of a mecca for fans of the 80s cult classic. They would stop by, take pictures, do the Truffle Shuffle and all was good. But all of that Pacific Northwest hospitality has disappeared as the owner of the house has gotten sick of the attention and blocked access to the property, including covering the outside of the house in tarps. Hey, you guyyyyyys…get off my lawn!

The owner, Sandi Preston, had previously been friendly to the many fans who would stop by on a daily basis, at times even inviting some lucky guests to walk around the inside of the home to take pictures. But, as the crowds began to increase, so did the trouble that came along with them. Preston frequently reported trash being left on her lawn, including cigarette butts and empty beer bottles. The crowds, which swelled to over 1,000 people per day over the summer, began walking through the lawn and on her porch. When asked to leave, they occasionally got violent, threatening violence against Preston and her family. Finally, she had enough.

Preston asked the city of Astoria to assist her in blocking access to the home and earlier this week city officials posted a sign reading, “Access Closed to Goonies House” (they had previously banned street parking to ease traffic concerns). Preston has also taken the drastic step of covering the front of her house with long blue tarps, in an effort to get people to stop walking on the porch and taking photos inside the window, apparently a common occurrence.

Preston had this to say about the recent influx of Goonies gawkers on Facebook:

They don’t have a sense of family or community but feel entitled and let no one get in their way. We see it daily with the threats against us; all because we choose to have some privacy. It’s been unrestricted for 14 years and we are worn out.

The problem from Preston is that her house is located on a public road and city officials can not legally bar people from walking on her street. Astoria officials are currently debating whether to turn the street into a private road, which would allow police to enforce no trespassing rules and potentially shut down Goonies tourism for good.

It’s an unfortunate turn of events, especially considering the behavior of the visiting fans. With any hope, as traffic dies down, there will be some sort of compromise between the owner, the city and hardcore Goonies fans.